Elsmere firefighters will soon have a new tool to avoid delays caused by trains blocking a key crossing: a live webcam that lets crews check the tracks before choosing their route to an emergency.
Fire Chief Paul LaFontaine told city council Tuesday that the webcam is intended to help crews navigate around delays caused by the recently reduced weight limit on Garvey Bridge, which prevents some Elsmere fire trucks from crossing.
“We don’t know that the crossing is blocked until we’ve committed there,” said LaFontaine at the council’s meeting on Tuesday.
Because some fire trucks can no longer cross Garvey Bridge, crews have been using Main Street to reach certain residential areas. However, trains blocking the Main Street crossing have already caused emergency responders to reach scenes more slowly than normal.
“We’ve had numerous occasions where Main Street crossing is blocked for extended periods of time,” said LaFontaine. “More than an hour, sometimes three days at a time.”
To prevent further disruption in response time, LaFontaine said he spoke with Mayor Marty Lenhof and Public Works Director Chris Zerhusen about buying a live webcam to place near the crossing.
The webcam footage is transmitted directly to the fire trucks, allowing firefighters to check whether a train is inbound and plan their route accordingly without further delays.
“Thank you for doing that for our citizens,” said Councilmember Joanne Barnett Smith.
Earlier this year, Garvey Bridge’s weight capacity was reduced from 27 tons to 13 tons. On Aug. 24, Norfolk Southern announced their partnership with the city of Elsmere to assess and create a plan to restore the bridge.
